India has started buying less Russian oil due to supply problems

Indian refiners are cutting purchases of Russian oil due to supply problems. Russian exports have been particularly affected by Ukrainian strikes on refineries and ports.

This is reported by Bloomberg.

After the outbreak of full-scale war, Russia became India’s main supplier of oil. As recently as July, Russian oil accounted for more than half of all Indian imports.

However, supplies could fall to around 2 million barrels per day in August, down from around 2.8 million barrels in July.

Kpler analyst Sumita Ritoliya attributes the decline to several reasons, including a reduction in the volume of Russian oil available for export, competition from China, and Indian companies returning to their usual pace of purchases after active imports in previous months.

Amid the disruptions, Indian companies have begun looking for oil in other countries. In particular, the country’s largest oil refining company, Indian Oil Corp., has announced tenders for the purchase of American oil, although such steps have previously been atypical for it.

Overall, Russian oil exports have fallen to about 3.5 million barrels per day over the past four weeks, down from more than 4 million barrels in July.